Wenger defiant despite spotlight

Manager Arsene Wenger maintains Arsenal must ignore all the negative headlines and broken cannon motifs if they are to turn their season around.

The Gunners take on Olympiacos in Athens for Tuesday night's final Champions League Group B clash on the back of a 2-0 home defeat by Swansea which was preceded by angry fans' demonstrations and followed by reports of dressing room bust-ups as well as questions over Wenger's long-term position.

However, Wenger said: "The situation is at the moment we are behind in the championship, we want to make ground back, we are qualified for 13 consecutive years in the Champions League, we are qualified in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup and we have our chances in the FA Cup like everyone else."

He added: "We have many challenges and that is what we want to focus on."

Asked if he would swap places with Manchester City, who failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League once again, Wenger said: "No, for one simple reason, we have played 15 games, so we have 23 games to come back on them, but once you are out of a cup competition, you cannot come back in again.

"We can make up the distance in the league, but in the Champions League, you are either in or out. It is fashionable to have a go at Arsenal but this club is in fantastic shape."

Wenger left several first-team players, including England duo Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere, back in London and will pack the bench with youngsters on Tuesday night. However, he insists there is no disharmony within the Gunners squad.

"Nothing really happened [after Swansea]. That the players are not happy after the game, do you want them to do a dance after we lost? This group of players is very strong, very highly motivated, has a very good spirit and they want to win. If they don't win, of course they are upset," he said.

"I am more worried if I see players who laugh in the shower after a game that we lost. We are in a job where the next game is the only important thing, that is how you can show how good you are."

Wenger maintains many of his players are "on the edge", and even if qualification were on the line on Tuesday night, when a victory may not be enough to overtake leaders Schalke, who play at bottom club Montpellier, he would have only brought "one or two more" of his senior men.